Tag Archive:
law school personal statement

Today we’re bringing back a classic post from the vault. This post was originally published on October 18, 2011 – and, much like a fine wine, has only improved with age. Matt Shinners is a Harvard Law graduate who taught and provided application counseling for Blueprint LSAT Prep. His application clearly turned out *okay*, but nevertheless, we can all learn from his successes (and failures, such as they are).

I applied to law school in October/November of 2006 with a 3.7/180 and the following law school personal statement. It was not even close to the strongest element of my application package.

Writing your personal statement can feel like the most stressful part of applying to law school. I put off working on my personal statement for a long time, but once I realized what makes a good personal statement, it wasn’t very daunting at all.

First, let’s take a look at some personal statement prompts. Here’s one from the University of Chicago Law School: “Please use the personal statement to introduce yourself to the Admissions Committee and to help the Committee get to know you on a personal level.” Chicago wants you to tell them a story about yourself so they can get to know you beyond your LSAT score and GPA.

Columbia’s prompt is similar. They first give you a long, wordy list of topics you could write about, and then they say you may write about “any other factors that you think should inform the Committee’s evaluation of your candidacy for admission.”

That was the final message delivered by Golden Gate University School of Law Associate Dean of Admissions Angela Dalfen to close out the PCAPLA Conference discussion on personal statements and letters of recommendation last Friday at UCLA School of Law.

Dalfen, along with UCLA School of Law Director of Admissions Talin Broosan, discussed law school admissions essays and letters of rec for about an hour, passing along their best pieces of advice to the dozens of pre-law advisors from all over the country who were in attendance.

There was one resounding theme at the PCAPLA Conference Mock Law School Admissions Committee Meeting last Thursday on the campus of Southwestern Law School:

It ain’t just about the numbers.

In a room of dozens of pre-law advisors from all over the country, Southwestern Law Assistant Dean of Admissions Lisa Gear and a panel of admission committee members from the University of San Diego School of Law, Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law, San Francisco School of Law and Santa Clara Law School discussed the applications of three students vying for admission.

Today on LSAT blog: An interview with Law School Expert Ann Levine. Ann has worked as a law school admissions consultant since 2004, and before that as a Director of Admissions at two ABA-accredited law schools. She’s also the author of The Law School Admission Game and The Law School Decision Game. She fielded some questions from Blueprint LSAT Prep instructor and Most Strongly Supported blogger Yuko Sin about choosing the right law school, the downside of law school rankings, and what law schools really look for in applicants.

Yuko Sin: How should an applicant decide which law schools to apply to?

Ann Levine: There are three questions to ask yourself when choosing law schools to apply to:

Many of you braved bad proctors, small desks, storms, and, yes, even earthquakes to sit for the 2013 December LSAT. It’s a huge accomplishment. In fact, I’m writing this with a speech recognition program so I can slow clap while writing it. Can you hear it start to speed up? Well, I assure you it is.

My software tried to transcribe the crescendo, so back to serious business.

You should be proud of finishing the LSAT, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to forget about the rest of the law school application process. We’re already in December, so it’s time to light a fire under you.

First off, if you want to apply for the current law school admissions cycle, it’s important to get through the list I’m about to give you ASAP.

Happy Veterans Day to those of you who have spent time in the military. We here at Blueprint LSAT Prep cannot thank you enough for your service and dedication to keeping the rest of us safe. We have nothing but respect for you and the work you do.

It’s a small thing we can do here on the LSAT blog, but we’d like to take this opportunity to provide advice to those servicemen and women who will pursue a career in the legal field after their time in the military.

So let’s clear up some misconceptions about which I’ve been asked:

1) “My service might say something about my personal politics, so I should downplay that.”

Heads up, folks: 2013 October LSAT scores are officially scheduled to come out this Wednesday. But they are likely to come out as early as Monday, since the LSAC likes to release LSAT scores a few days before their deadline.

This will be your last weekend of ignorant bliss or nervous anticipation. You will probably have a few LSAT-themed nightmares, and you might not be so pleasant to be around.
So, if you’re looking to save your sanity or your personal relationships, it might be a good idea to spend this weekend doing something productive, like working on your law school personal statement.